-- Arizona roots veterans Calexico have a new live album, Live in Nuremberg, recorded in Germany in 2009, up for free download. Click over to CASH Music to get it. The band is on the road right now.

-- A group of Silver Jews and Lambchop members have gotten together to form (of all things) a funk-rock band called Tim Chad and Sherry-- this despite the fact that none of them are named Tim, Chad, or Sherry. This month, they'll self-release their album Baby We Can Work It Out.

-- The compilation Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves - Ghana & Togo 1972-1979 collects Afrobeat and Afro-funk from Ghana and Togo. It's due August 2 from Analog Africa as a CD with a 44-page booklet and a gatefold double LP.